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Commentary
Large animals are living carbon stores. Does that make saving them a climate solution?
By John Cannon - Mongabay A new Current Biology review says rewilding large animals like elephants and whales is critical for stemming species decline and extinction, but the authors caution that pitching it as a climate strategy is “high-risk.” These animals store, release, and move carbon in ways that vary by species and ecosystem, and right now, it’s unclear how much, where, or when. The climate benefits could be decades away, as the effects of animal restoration unfold over 50 to 100 years, and overpromising risks “false confidence,” according to the authors. But experts say they’re more...
Trophy Hunting: A Legal Mask for Ecological Injustice
By Noma Dube - Zimbabwe Elephant Foundation The global debate over trophy hunting is too often reduced to a question of legality versus illegality. That framing misses the point. The more useful question is one of values, governance, and the future of the continent’s most iconic wildlife populations. This is not an argument against any country or culture; it is a challenge to an outdated model that commodifies individual animals’ lives under the banner of conservation, while leaving the underlying ecological and community outcomes largely unexamined. The conservation-funding argument, tested...
News
Community-led conservation key to southern Africa’s elephant recovery
By Rutendo Nyeve - Chronicle COMMUNITY-LED conservation initiatives that give local people a direct stake in wildlife management are helping some elephant populations in southern Africa recover,...
Thailand seizes ivory shipment from Zambia, to launch DNA investigation
By Shreya Dasgupta - Mongabay Authorities in Thailand say they have seized about 400 pieces of African elephant ivory in a shipment of timber from Zambia, and are now testing the contraband to...
Mozambique: Twelve detained over attempt to sell elephant tusks
By Club of Mozambique Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) has detained twelve individuals for alleged involvement in sale of elephant tusks, hippo teeth and other protected...
Press releases
Over half of international tourists would question visiting South Africa if elephant culling is reinstated, new survey finds
By Humane World for Animals Humane World for Animals South Africa warns elephant culling could damage South Africa’s tourism appeal and conservation reputation CAPE TOWN, South Africa—Over half (60%) of international tourists would consider visiting a different country instead if elephant culling...
Studies
African elephants putatively self-medicate with medicinal plants in the Mount Elgon region, Kenya
By Fabien Schultz et al - Scientific Reports Abstract The Mount Elgon region...
Researchers analysing 469 rumbles from wild African elephants in Kenya found that calls contained name-like information
By Science Blog Machine learning found receiver-specific information in 469...
Elephant barrier behaviours in response to conflict mitigation fences
By Dominique Gonçalves, Robert J. Smith, Helen M. K. O'Neill - The Society for...
Reports
Scientific Review of Botswana’s Elephant Hunting Programme
By Mike Chase and Scott Schlossberg - Elephants Without Borders (EWB) Summary 1. In 2019, Botswana ended a five-year moratorium on the hunting of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana). Here, we provide expert, outside review of the hunting programme and its scientific basis. Notably, we...
About
The Journal of African Elephants was created by a group of concerned journalists, biologists and conservationists, who, after years of tracking and documenting the catastrophic decline of Africa’s elephant populations, have recognised the urgent need for a dedicated English and French news and commentary space to enhance and increase global awareness of the plight of Africa’s savanna and forest elephants. Our Commentary service, in particular, are writers that focus on the need to provide awareness of Africa’s elephants and affected surrounding human communities from a distinctly African perspective that, for the most part, is lacking in the dominance of Western media.